XR200 Six Speed Transmission

I seem to vaguely recall long ago reading something about Honda going from a six speed in the old XR200 to a five speed in the XL200 because the gears in the six speed were thin enough to be "too fragile" over a long period of time. And that someone, maybe the magician tuner Mike Coe, had developed a tougher gear cluster or something like that to cure the problem. Or maybe it was a too fragile kickstart gear that was the problem? Is any of this true, am I remembering any of this correctly?

You might get better response in Thumpers, which is about bikes, rather than here, where the topic is mainly riding.

I sold XR200Rs, never remember a six speed, except the last yrear in 1984, the RFVC version. The '84 XL200R had the old two valve five speed in it, the '84 XR200R had the latest (but not the greatest if I remember right) Radial Four Valve set up in it with a six speed. They weren't quite as robust as the tried and true two valve version.

So, my 1980 2-valve XR200 (twin shock model) is actually a better bike and more desirable than the later model? I bought the XR200 for $60, all there but from the barrel up was a mess, head though was ok. I got a Wiseco high compression piston, new con-rod, barrel from an ATC200 (bigger fins) and lapped in the valves after new guides and stem seals.

https://thumpertalk.com/forums/topic/220366-200x-5-speed-vs-xr200-6-speed/

Yeah, there's definitely 6spd 2-valve XR200's, and the widest ratio transmission came in the '86-87 TLR200's. Was the kickstart gears that you're thinking of, and the billet ones aren't available anymore. Mostly an issue with big-bore/stroker engines, from what understand. Have a brand new TLR200 engine pulled out of a bike with 100 original miles on it if you are looking for an engine, shoot me a DM.

Thanks for the info!

I'm not actually shopping for an engine right now, but man oh man, only a hundred original miles? That makes me wish I was shopping for an engine right now.

I guess I missed out on the 1993-2002 XR200R two valve bikes with the six speeds. Apparently they were less travel suspension play bikes as opposed to what the 80s XR200R two valve bikes were.

Yeah they're great little engines, better power/weight than the XR250 once built. Wish figured that out before started this XR250/CRF project. Ended up stuffing CRF150F into a CR80 bigwheel chassis instead. The CRF150F was an updated XR200 engine, but only has 5spds and is kickstart. CRF230F (all years) is stroked version of same engine with 6spds and is e-start only, because the kickstart gears occupy same space as 6th gear. 230 with e-start is about 12lbs heavier though, which is a lot for little/lightweight bikes. Too much for me. '06-up CRF150F engine is another big update, doesn't share common parts with previous engines but has same external dimensions. Still 5spd but has e-start and is enough lighter than old engines that you end up at same weight with e-start. Building a 'new' lightweight trailbike right now based on that TLR200. Probably gonna replace the TLR engine with 03-05 CRF150F engine using CRF230 crank and big-bore kit. Hope this isn't too far off-topic.

Fuh-reekin sah-weet project!

Good info, thanks.

If you're looking into performance potential, thumpertalk is best source of information have found online. Used to be pretty common to bore/stroke XR200's to 218, but poweroll is out of business and Mike Coe is gone, and think Terry Miller too, so options are much more limited. Frank at Engines Only might be the last man standing. Consensus seems to be the newer CRF150/230 engines have more/better power potential, and definitely product support. 150/230's can go +280cc's...